Bad Girl Gone

Gr 8 Up—Paranormal romance meets murder mystery in this YA tale. Echo Stone wakes up alone in a cold, dark room. This is her home now, she is told—a place called Middle House. Echo and a group of other children and teens were sent here one reason: they were all murdered. And now they all must find their killers and seek vengeance in order for their souls to be set free. Mathews uses this elaborate setup to take the protagonist on a posthumous journey of self-discovery. As Echo revisits her family and friends, she sees not only the pain that her death has brought them but also the ways in which her behavior, while she was alive, hurt people. In addition, she struggles to let go of her devoted boyfriend, Andy, even as she develops feelings for Cole, another Middle House resident. For all of its high stakes, this work has a decidedly unhurried pace; Echo spends as much time contemplating past choices as she does hunting her killer. Her efforts to help other children get their revenge add action to the narrative, but scenes in Middle House itself, when Echo and her friends have to come to the aid of their imperious leader, Miss Torvous, feel oddly out of place and distract from the larger story.